Intoxia Warriors - Mizuka Blood (Book One)

by De'Karhi Philpot

  “OK,” Crystal replied. Her eyes became wetter and more crimson than ever before. Both of her arms had begun to drop, simultaneously. “I don’t understand why they hate me-he-he-he.”

  “Well, that’s good to not understand. I’m going to teach you how to stand up for yourself, since Lola’s going to be in the middle of dealing with the others. We were both aware that something was going on. Hitachi didn’t snitch, we just heard him banging on the door and telling them to leave you alone.”

  Crystal relaxed herself, entering her room that was next door to Hiba’s and went into the room. They both approached the room with their eyes morally focused on the mirror. Hiba suspected there might have been some problems with the dress Crystal is wearing, but it was nearly a hot mess.

  “Come here, sit down,” Hiba instructed, cleaning out Crystal's sulky and wet face from the tears. “Now about giving you some life lessons, Crystal.”

  “I sure hope it’s enough to make me stronger. I want them to respect me, and acknowledge the fact that I can be a great asset and can be a huge difference-maker of the team,” Crystal’s voice chocked for a moment, but then became stabled and flowed perfectly. “Is there something that you know about them?”

  “In all honesty, I really don’t know. I asked Lola the same question when I was your age,” Hiba sat down in a chair across. “We usually sometimes keep some dark thoughts to ourselves at times, but we shouldn’t let them fester inside. It wouldn’t be right. I know that it sounds too obvious to you, but this is me telling from legitimate experience."

  “Well, what do I do to get them off my back?” Crystal’s question was more than enough for Hiba to give out the perfect advice.

  “Put your foot down and tell them that you’re a person. You have feelings as well, and you’re demanding respect from them. But you have to do it with brute force; otherwise, they’ll come at you harder than you could have anticipated. Sometimes in life, earning something isn’t the best thing to do, it’s Lola had demanded herself to show you a huge gap of love between yourself and the others, including Hitachi, and including myself. Understand this fact, Crystal: Your Enemies Will Be Your Friends.”

  It never occurred to the young Aruba that people who are enemies becomes allies, friends, colleagues, closer than friends. She thought that sometimes the word ‘respect’ was nothing but a word. But coming from Hiba’s experience, she’s beginning to expect that there are some things in life that Alex and Sonya, as well as Hiba and Hitachi, all had to endure. She finally found it suspicious to why Lola had always treated them differently on endless aspects; regarding her emotions, reactions, and tones.

  ***

  The ceremony has yet to occur and all four youngsters have made it downstairs in time. Lola walked behind them, entering the room that led to the enlarged Balcony to where every soldier, Academy teacher, mentors, warriors, and continent generals all made pleasant. More than half a dozen rows of men and women in their army attires stood in unison, saluting the core General – Lola R. Mizuka.

  She escorted the teens over to their appropriate seats while advancing towards the escalator stand. She climbed all five steps before she met up with the microphone. Hitting the metal pod of the microphone, she cleared her throat and began the speech for the newer and improved development for this generation of the world’s largest protective organization.

  ***

  Less than two hours earlier, Black Hinura has been quietly luring around the Northern Coast undetected alongside with Lisa Amili, who both looked onward and noticed that nightfall wasn't too far off. Within five minutes, the Ceremony for the newest recruits shall begin momentarily.

  "Crystal Aruba," Lisa Amili stated with her body steaming hot with excitement as she noticed Black not showing any type of interest into quickly getting the job done. "I can't believe that after over a decade we finally get to see what she's made of."

  The Bloodlust Succubus unsheathed blade from behind her back and had been preparing for a massive fight to abduct the fifteen year-old Aruba.

  "We wound them, not kill. I have no intentions of physically taking the life of any of the soldiers," Black had addressed the plan and expect for it to be executed thoroughly and properly.

  ***

  Chapter 8 - New Introductions

  "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Core General Mizuka," an announcer introduced as the General of the Army emerged from behind the curtains. She became more than fearless, confidence had increased incredibly taken its' toll on her. Lola was more than just strong and sensitive.

  She received an irresistable and respectable applause from the enlarged army, and furthermore, she even got support from fellow Generals, and Academy graduates, far as the "The New Four" goes.

  "Thank you, Bokanu. It is an honor and privilege to have you all come into this very building," Lola's voice echoed through not only the intercom, but throughout the entire building. She spoke with sense of knowledge and maturity. "For over the last fifteen years, I have expected so much to come from this organization that I'm head-leader. But in actuality, I have dedicated my token of gratitude to as much of my men and women could get."

  "Dude, your mother sure has a way with words, doesn't she," Alex applied, giving his close friend more than a compliment.

  "Quiet, I'm trying to hear her," Hitachi avoided the question and focused more on what he thought was vital to him. No one could possibly accuse him for it.

  "I have done more than become a leader; I have raised five wonderful people, blood or no blood. They've all been like my family. A family that I've never thought I'd have. Few of them had considered me as an older sister, one of them is someone that I offered a helping hand to as well as shelter. And--"

  Lola seemed hesitant before she could address her figure of speech about Hitachi and Crystal. The atmosphere became heavy when a sudden flash of her dark past came into play. She grunted lightly, but it still caught Hitachi's attention. All the gloomy and disturbing images flowed through the figures of Lola's appearance. The Mizuka General took a few deep breaths before resuming to her speech.

  Everyone had a variety of expressions - Some were confused, concerned, nervous or were beginning to have unfortunate doubts of Lola's current condition; as to still being a General.

  An enormous gap of murmurings came from a chunk load of soldiers that were in the audiences. It didn't surprise the General that they'd get a strong reaction out of something so unexpected.

  Lola's voice spoke intentionally into the microphone, "Silence, everyone. I'm not done speaking my piece. Now I have one more thing I would like to address. This may or may not sound that crazy to you all, but I also have a child that I've carried for nine months - not more than eighteen years ago, this young man has always resembled my husband's appearance, and everything that I could dream of."

  She gawked in the direction to where Hitachi stood, arms crossed in front of his chest with a smiling mask on his face.

  "I--" Lola stammered, according to the tone in her voice. She was deliberately chocking when tears. The General tried to speak some more, but haunting memories were closing in on her, touched inevitably by the thoughts of segregation. Shocking the balcony, tears were slipping through her eyes, deeply trying to keep her head strong. "Wh--"

  Before she lost her mind, Shizuka Siya approached her childhood closest friend, who is like a younger sister. Shizuka became more understanding of what Lola's been through and she wouldn't want to inform anyone of Lola's true emotions, even though she's suspected.

  "Lola. Come here, let me take over for you," Shizuka assisted Lola to the back room for she could try and redeem herself.

  Just several seconds later, Shizuka returned outside with a bit of contempt on her face as she took over, like she said, "Sorry for the short inconvenience, everyone. But any who, let's move on, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome and applaud the new four graduates of not only the Ujikadaka Academy but also the two-year semester on Obstacle Facility Shrine.
"

  Shizuka aimed her right hand out for the youngsters to emerge from behind the curtains. The only person that's exposed a lack of courage was Crystal. Her heart had stopped inconsistently as she saw a huge balcony of people representing the army applauding her with courage. It became one of the biggest experiences of her life, not to mention she pressured herself with the fact that Lola understood her emotions.

  I never thought that Crystal's reaction would be this crucial on every aspect; Lola sat on the chair with her hands folded as she leaned her head on her forehead. Kudos to you, Lola. You had the best chance to take care of only four kids, which is why I don't know why I kept bringing it up. But sometimes it's pitiful for me to try and understand why the Bloodlust group would ttry to take the life of Crystal's mother.

  Lola couldn't take thinking about most of the things that have consumed the General's thoughts without a second thought.

  "As the General was addressing, things haven't felt the same, but we all need to stick together and understand that we're still at war with this organization," Shizuka resumed for Lola's speech. "Far as I'm concerned, there hasn't been a single update on the Bloodlust since Warehouse 102 was invaded. I don't know which members were there, but there's slight chance that we may be in grave danger of losing more than just that warehouse. We're in need for very important things that this Army to fight with." Crystal couldn't believe what she was hearing. The stories Lola had told her about with the deadly group of Bloodlust and what they're capable of, it's strange that the one thing that would faze Crystal on every aspect would be the fact of Black's horroudous reputation.

  Shizuka turned her attention towards Lola, who patted her right shoulder and informed that she'd take it from where she's at, "Alright, everyone. That's all I have to address for Lola. She will begin her introduction for the new four that have graduated a year or two prior to this day."

  A huge round of applause occurred as Lola returned back to the stand and started the next topic. The red-haired General wiped the tears from her face and viewed Hitachi, Alex, Sonya and Crystal all standing before she had a chance to say anything. Surprisingly enough, Lola had pointed her finger down to the floor as a way of telling them to sit back down until they're all called.

  "I like to thank you all for coming. It's been so long that I chose to take the title as General of this particular army. Hence that I'm expected to have respect, it's only a matter of time before things get heavy between us and the Bloodlust group. We will be extremely busy training. Training, training, training with a huge dose of a break. I won't wear all of you out, but there are some of you that still have a lot of experience to gain before you could fight alongside me and the rest of the facility."

  Lola's speech tried going into figures, still noticing some unexpected masks on some of the soldiers' faces. It didn't surprise her, she just felt as if they were beginning to fear this Bloodlust Revelation group.

  The General proceeded with her lime-green eyes focused on the four of the youngsters that were behind the red curtains, "But without further ado. I am going to call out the new four out one by one. You can all tell that they are anxious enough to get into this army without a second thought and wanting to help protect this planet with their very lives. Now, the first to come up on stage was a young man who I've kept under my wing from the time he was six years old to this age. I managed to give him some time to be a lonesome person when he first came about of my presence. But then I realized something: deep down inside, this young man has had an attitude that I can respect because it contains confidence and respect at the same time. Ironically enough, I'm that way sometimes, too."

  Lola heard laughter from the audience. She joined in on it with a little giggle.

  "I really don't bother to think about what family he's from, because he's had some rough times that it's drove him to that statement. No, I showed him that he's a human being and not the monster that everyone thought that he was. He sure can be persistent if you ask me, but trust me, he's pretty likable. You just have to get used to his personality sometimes. Now, everyone put your hands together for Alex Rushin Amili to the Intoxian Army."

  With a grin invading his mask, Alex ran across the stage with sheer courage and not a single heartbeat had occurred within his chest. When Lola came closer, she embraced him as she offered him a sword that was fit for his needs. A wild wave of applause was brushed over into his direction, lasting for a good ten seconds. He could feel his spine being shivered with Goosebumps.

  "Wow," Alex stammered, struggling to utter the right words to the audience without feeling so enthusiastic. "Just wow. I-- I can't even begin to speak without shedding a tear and such, man."

  He kept his head high and yet his chin is trying its' best to reach his chest. Furthermore, he lied his forearms onto the stand with his forehead following. The chills grew even stronger than expected.

  "I'll bet you were all in my shoes when you introduced to the army with every fiber in your body screaming 'We made it! We made it'," Alex murmured simultaneously. "I took me a long time to get this far, but here I am. He stood before millions and millions. Many people at home watching on broadcast television. Do you all know how incredible it is, to be broadcast live?"

  Everyone laughed at his silliness, but found the humorous and understanding side of it as they applauded him with even greater debt. Without a shadow of a doubt, Lola could relate to how Alex is reacting as of right now.

  "This is by far the greatest experience that I have ever endured in my life," Alex spoke prior before speaking rather maturely. "Let's get right into it."

  Camera crews, news reporters, Generals of the four facilities, journalists and newspaper writers from across the globe have all come together for the one ceremony that happens once a year. So far, there have been approximately nine-hundred thousand, two-hundred sixty-eight ceremonies that have been around from the day the Army was developed, created and established by various Warriors all across the globe.

  "I, Alex Amili, am more than honored to be a part of a team that has given me so much more than just a roof over my head. Clothes to have on my back, food to digest whenever I get hungry," Alex made another silly statement when 'food' was uttered. "I was even raised and loved by the one woman that I thought would never give me the chance to wake up from my previous, tragic past as a child. And that woman is General Lola Mizuka."

  Lola smiled greatly, standing along with the western, southern and eastern General's mimicking her movement. They all applaud her with everyone else. Alex turned his attention towards the General, shedding tears with his heart racing rapidly, driving him to the point to where he couldn't breathe. He felt as if he wanted to die of happiness, but maintained his strength.

  Lola pulled Alex into her chest, hearing him cry, giving her the memories of how she was when she became a 'New introduction' to the army. Weeping within her mother's chest as she saw her younger self with Alex embracing her. Both of them tear-jerking at the same time had forced Lola's to allow her forehead to collapse onto the top of Alex's head. She kissed it and embraced him even tighter.

  "Aw," come the sound of the crowd as they applaud incredibly.

  "Come on, Alex. Let's head to the back for a minute," Lola ordered, escorting the young lad backstage with the help of other adults. She sighed with her eyes focused back on Alex first and then back over to the stand. The balcony became quiet once Lola placed a finger over her lips for them to silence for she could begin the next introduction.

  "Now, for this introduction, this gal right here," Lola laughed for a good second, a rare thing that everyone notices from the General herself. "I think that there are times where we all have that particular female of the pack who is as feisty as she needs to be in order to stay confident. But when you think about it, you can already tell that she's not that bad of a person when it comes to assisting people on every aspect. She can be a pain in the butt most of the times, but at the bottom of her heart, she can realize that she's not the only one wi
th the powers of a demon. And I have already told you all that you should never judge a book by its' cover," Lola's mind was in the mood with every word uttered with pride. She took it into consideration and the four youngsters knew exactly who Lola was referring to.

  "I think that it's a good thing that you happened to recognize your own personality and behavior, Sonya," Hiba commented, embarrassing Sonya through humor. It wasn't long before Hiba made a smug expression on her face. She felt more than just her ego being hurt and saw the hilarious side of Hiba's figure of speech.

  "Yeah, I'm sure of that, Hiba," Sonya took her time to stand up, and detected Crystal's silent, yet sensitive reaction. "I thought that it would have been as interesting as seeing Crystal in hush mode. It doesn't seem fair. And I'll bet that--"

  "Ugh," Hiba replied in disgust. "Will you shut up and go on stage for crying out loud. I swear, even on special occasions, you never seem to stop bullying someone without giving it a second thought. That's how pride less and arrogant you are, Sonya. Just stop."

  Luckily, Lola hear didn't well enough because Hiba was whispering rather with the full intention of smacking some logical sense into the Amili gal.

  "OK, OK. Don't get mad at me because I'm speaking my mind," Sonya complained, standing up from the stand and realizing that she was about to be called on."